In the current climate, this type of crisis could potentially happen to any disruptive business and it’s about to get a whole lot harder – as some of the major social platforms, including X, Facebook, Instagram and Threads continue to roll back on fact checking and content moderation in favour of ‘freedom of speech’.

Add this to the rise of social search – which is growing in popularity among consumers in terms of both brand and product discovery, as well as being used to find out news and information – and you have a ‘perfect storm’ of highly engaged userbases on platforms rife with misinformation.

It’s a combination which could serve to undermine, not just individual brands and innovations but entire industries.

Take the fields of cultivated meat and alternative protein for example – as advances in these areas have accelerated, there has also been a sharp increase in misinformation posted via social media on these topics.

According to reports from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, apparent misinformation about meat, dairy, and alternative diets appeared in almost one million posts on social platform X over the course of 14 months, up to July 2023 – and this is viewed as a growing issue. 

Some of this information – including a study which claimed that ‘lab-grown meat could be 25 times worse for the climate than traditionally farmed beef’ and had not been peer reviewed – was cited by the Italian government shortly before the production, sale and import of cultivated meat was banned in the country.

It’s concerning that countries and states are closing the door completely on a development that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 92% and land use by up to 90%, compared to conventional beef.

Can these backwards steps be blamed solely on the rise of misinformation spread via social media? No – but it could be argued that the trust of both business and consumer audiences is likely to be compromised when the lines are blurred between fact and fiction.

A recent Trust Barometer from Edelman, for example, suggests that around two-thirds of people are now struggling to distinguish between reality and misinformation.

This diminishing trust is then likely to impact everything – from new products and services coming to market, to brand reputation and behaviour change campaigns.

So what can innovative startups and fast-growing companies do in the face of these challenges?

To some extent, unfortunately it’s a ‘new normal’ that industries and businesses need to adapt to – reaching for the best but preparing for the worst - sticking to principles and communicating clearly, even when the landscape is chaotic.

Some brands, such as Lush, have attempted to tackle this issue by steering clear of the major social platforms – such as X and Instagram – but ultimately, the majority of companies will want to be where their audiences are.

The spread of misinformation has meant that the value of what companies are sharing via their owned channels is increasingly important – ensuring they're building a voice of trust and authenticity on both websites and blogs, as well as social media channels.

Equally, a communications strategy which focuses on building brand authority in media outlets and publications that are trusted by target audiences is increasingly critical.

Any external messaging should be clear, concise, consistent, accessible, and appropriate to all audience groups that a brand or business is communicating with (e.g. corporate and/or consumer).

As well as this, robust forward planning and pre-prepared messaging, including potential crisis comms, is recommended to cover any challenges that may arise.

To support this, social monitoring is a must to stay on top of trends, topics and current conversations, helping companies to anticipate and react in a timely manner should issues develop.

Organisations must also remember – it’s easy to dismiss the spread of misinformation as malicious, but for every bad actor and conspiracy theorist out there, there are also real customers with legitimate concerns and social media is still an invaluable tool for understanding, engaging, and communicating with these audiences.

In order to pave the way for revolutionary products and services, our industry must adapt to survive – guiding audiences through the game, despite the disarray on the playing field.

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